September 2, 2013 3:35 pm

There was plenty from Saturday that Steve Sarkisian was happy with Monday. He also pointed to several things to work on.

To the quick hits:

> Sarkisian said the tackling needs to improve. Though Boise State ran 88 plays and scored just six points, Sarkisian wasn’t thrilled with the tackling.

> Keith Price said Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson sent him a long, three-point postgame text. Price said he first talked to Wilson when Wilson arrived in Seattle. Apparently, Jermaine Kearse passed his number along. Price said Wilson told him to keep his eyes down the field, don’t take sacks and slide.

> Sarkisian said he thought Price played an excellent second half after kind of white-knuckling the first half. He also said there should have been zero sacks in the game by Boise State, which snagged Price once. Price agreed.

> Sounds like Kendyl Taylor is a likely redshirt candidate. Sarkisian said he didn’t want to use a guy like Taylor just a few plays per game. Sarkisian also said that true freshmen Trevor Walker, Kevin King and Darrell Daniels will be getting longer looks even though they didn’t play the opener.

> Austin Seferian-Jenkins is back practicing full-time with the starting unit. Sarkisian said Seferian-Jenkins went “above and beyond” what he asked him to do after his March DUI citation. Sarkisian also said Seferian-Jenkins was winded at practice today, while the other 10 starters were feeling good. He said that showed how taking up-tempo reps throughout fall camp put everyone else into shape and that Seferian-Jenkins has some catching up to do.

> Sarkisian liked the pace Saturday, but added, “I think we can be fast.”

> Sarkisian said the communication and play-calling went well the first time out. “I think that’s the beauty of going no-huddle, you don’t second-guess yourself.” Two days later, however, Sarkisian was rethinking both fourth-down attempts. He said the 4th-and-1 when Dwayne Washington was stuffed at the Boise State 10-yard line was Sarkisian being “stubborn” as a play-caller. He thought Washington could have scored if he followed Psalm Wooching on the first carry from the Boise 15-yard line in that set of downs. He also said he would have given Travis Coons a shot at a field goal when they instead punted on 4th-and-8 at the Boise 37. The wind was to their back.

> Sarkisian added that the wide receiver blocking could have been better. He thought it was OK and said Kasen Williams was just “OK” at it Saturday.

> One other place the up-tempo helped: not allowing Washington to wallow about penalties. “If we got a holding penalty on first down a year ago, you might as well have punted on second down.” Instead, they just get it and go.

> Sarkisian said this is the most healthy he’s had a team coming out of week 1.

> Asked if told 10 years ago he would be calling this type of offense, Sarkisian laughed. He said he should have been and also said that he would love to have played this style. In the past, he thought an approach where he tried to shorten the game would be the best route for the team. But, because of depth and skill personnel, that this best-suited the Huskies this season. In addition, he said it allows them to, “emphasize our skill players and de-emphasize up front.”

> Freshman kicker Cameron Van Winkle had two touchbacks and averaged 64.3 yards per kickoff. Sarkisian said he couldn’t remember the last time they had a touchback and that they had to start reminding the special teams guys to run through the end zone when that happened. Sadly, he wasn’t kidding about either point. Coons had 11 touchbacks and averaged 59 yards per kickoff last year.

> Washington was in helmets and shoulder pads again today. They will practice through Thursday, then take the weekend off.

> Washington nominated John Timu and Bishop Sankey for Pac-12 Player of the Week. Wide receiver Paul Richardson of Colorado, safety Tra’Mayne Bondurant of Arizona, and Vincenzo D’Amato of Cal have been named Pac-12 Players of the Week in football.

About

A proud native of Longview, Wash., Christian Caple joins The News Tribune after covering Washington State football and men's basketball for two years at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane (though he lived in Pullman). He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Washington, an avid NWAACC basketball fan, and is unsure how to proceed now that Breaking Bad is over.

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